Southern Ground Festival & The Awful Waffle.

A few weeks back Scott and I went to the second annual Southern Ground Festival. We went last year and had fun so we have been looking forward to it this fall. We only went on Saturday night since we were going out of town for a mini vaca on Sunday. The line up this year was even better than last: Darius Rucker (surprise guest), Greg Allman, John Mayer- all played with Zack Brown. Then there was The Avett Borthers (the reason we really wanted to go), and Grace Potter just to name a few. Last year it was three days and this year they made it two- there were SO many people it was insane! 

Top Left to Right: Zack Brown and Darius Rucker. Bottom Left to Right: Greg Allman and John Mayer.

The lighting was awesome. We were not this far away but my camera makes it look like we were a football field away. We were right behind the VIP, complimentary tickets from my job- whoohoo!

 Scott being a creeper in my pictures. These are the epitome of 

photo bomber. haha. 

 My friend Kelly and her bf went with us, I was so suprised we found each other in the ridiculous hoards of people! We all had so much fun. The music was great, the weather was perfect and afterward Scott and I did our ritual after concert dinner: at Waffle House. Yes, they had amazing food vendors there- ZBB's own vendor who is world renown makes southern style delicious food and several local vendors, but we have a standing tradition that after every concert we go to the night always comes to a close at Waffle House. I think after a concert is now the only time I go to  Waffle House, where before it was always after drunken college nights- oh the memories at The Waffle House... funny how it has a whole different meaning when you get old(er). 

Waffle House an after concert must.

Friday Favorites {halloween tv edition}

I cannot believe Halloween is next week! It is one of my very favorite holidays. Things have been so hectic around here between work events, packing the apartment to move and busy travel weekends that I have not even carved a pumpkin this year!! Besides not carving a pumpkin, I have not been to a haunted house, or a Halloween party- not a single item off my Halloween "bucket list" accomplished. It's a tragedy I know. Next year when we are in our house I am going ALL OUT with the Halloween decorations! I'm sure pinterest will help with all the ideas haha. 

Some of the Halloween things I have been loving this season:

1. Halloween Wars on The Food Network

This is the coolest show! Every team has a cake designer, confectionery artist and a pumpkin carver. Everyone is given a theme and each team has a few hours to come up with an amazing creation. 

Can you believe that this was made with sugar, a pumpkin and cake?!?! INSANE right?!

Both of the above pictures are from last season, but this seasons is just as awesome. I dont even think I could think of some of these creations let alone have the skills to produce them! They have amazing talent.

2.  Face Off on Syfy
This is such an awesome show. It's kind of like making Project Runway but with costume design- and by costumes I mean full on masks, make up and clothing. It is truly bizarre what these people can do in a matter of hours. Creative geniuses I tell ya! 

Isnt it amazing that this was done in a matter of hours and that their is a person wearing ALL of that! haha. 

This was one of my favorite costumes from last year. The detail is super awesome and creepy! 

3. Hocus Pocus
This is a Halloween classic. I have watched this movie every year since I have been a child and did this year too. I LOVE this movie and find it hysterical that Sarah Jessica Parker is the ditzy witch. 

Sadly I have not seen any scary Halloween movies that I have liked yet this year. I always like super scary movies, but they have all been cheesy this year... oh well there's always next year to join my awesome Halloween decorations! 

twenty.thirteen

Is it sad to say that I am already looking forward to 2013?! 

I think it's wonderful to anticipate and have something to look forward to. There's so many exciting things coming up: moving into our FIRST house, my birthday, Christmas, New Years, and then a few short months following that is our big vacation that is being planned already!!

In previous posts I have said that Scott has caught the "cruising bug." He loves cruises after he went on his first this past summer. We have now decided to have our families and friends meet and what better place then on a vacation?! 

So in April we are setting sail out of Miami (again-yuck on Miami) and going to Jamaica, Grand Turks, and the Bahamas. We are going on a brand new ship that was built this year by Carnival cruise. My parents, and a few of my friends are going, and Scott's family and a few of his friends are going too- in total 13 as a definite and probably more to join! I am already SOOO excited!

This is the Breeze! 

So besides penny pinching for the house, moving, Christmas, and now vacation I need to get my tail in the gym now! 

PUCKER UP...

...And give me a SMACK! 

I hardly ever wear lipstick, Im more of the Burts Bee's Wax chapstick type of girl. I cannot go thirty minutes without slathering on some type of chap stick. Occasionally I will wear a gloss, but in Charleston near the beach it is often windy and I hate my hair sticking to my lips- such a pet peeve! Well at Mac they have a deal where if you give back six of any type of their cases you get a free lipstick! 

When I finally saved up all of my years (yes years, their products last so long) worth of cases, I went into Mac to get my free lipstick. The girl at the counter was super helpful but had so many people waiting and needing help. So I patiently waited for about thirty minutes, which was easy because I LOVE looking at all their products. Once she came over to help I had to figure out which lipstick would look best on my skin, even though I had already been staring at them for thirty minutes or so! There were soooo many choices... I knew I wanted something natural but also something fun. Since I had waited so long she told me to pick out TWO for free, yay! I loved the look of "Snob" I had seen it in magazines and all over Pinterest, but once I tried it on it simply looked awful on me- it had too much of a blue hue in it. It's amazing how the wrong shade of lipstick can make you look like a clown or utterly sick- like you have the flu. 

This is "Snob" and it is a playful and really beautiful color, if you have the correct skin tone- mine not being one of them. So I tried to find a color close to it that is a better match with my skin tone. 

 

The make up artist helped me find "Angel" which is very close to "Snob" but it has less of a blue hue and more pink. I am definitly stepping out of my normal "comfort zone" with this lipstick because I am so use to my simple chapsticked lips that has no color! "Angel" is my playful 

lipstick of choice. 

My nest most obvious choice would be to go with a natural every day lipstick color. I must have had 30 lipstick swatches up my arm trying to get a good natural one and then a playful one to go with my skin tone. I finally settled on "Modesty" as my natural lipstick. It is a gorgeous color that goes with everything. 

Mac lipsticks go on creamy and has a good smell! They last for quite a while before having to have a touch up and best of all they are not sticky like other lipsticks or glosses. I feel I have added a quick touch of glam, like putting on a sexy pair of heels- except with lipstick it's much easier to walk the cobble streets of Charleston! 

The best advice I can give while searching for your perfect color is to definitely ask the sales girl to help- make up is her job, and most make up artist have a passion for it. The lady who helped me was super helpful and made my transition from chap stick to lipstick easy. 

*note- the pictures are clearly not my lips- they are google images obviously... I promise to take more pictures in the future and maybe a photography class or two haha! 

I'm just people watching, the other people watching me..."

I love Jack Johnson and his calming soothing voice, and the above title about people watching are lyrics by him. People watching is always fun and there's no better place than the STATE FAIR!! There are truly all different types of people, some from the back woods of the South and others just normal humdrum people there for the food.

My mom, dad, my nephew Austin and I all went a few weeks ago on a Saturday, which is probably the busiest day. Dad was there for the food, I wanted to see the art work, Austin wanted to ride the rides and play the overpriced games and mom wanted to see a bit of it all. I'm not going to lie... besides seeing the art work, I also wanted to eat a corn dog, its the ONLY time of the year that I will eat a fried corn dog haha.

I have gone to the fair every single year since I can remember. The only thing that has changed are the crazy inflated prices. For example, 22 tickets for the rides were $25 dollars and each ride was approximately four tickets each.  There were less rides than I remember as a kid too... but the fair is always fun. After I leave I always feel like I need to bathe in a huge bath of anti-bacterial- it is the germ-iest place on earth. 

Top left: The sand castle is always a must to see every year, this year the theme was seasons. Top right: Can you read that sign? Yes that says deep fried BUTTER, not to mention deep fried candy bars and cookie dough! YUCK. I did not visit this food stand to say the least but I'm sure many did. Bottom left: You should see the smile on Austin's face when he walked up with a BUCKET, yes BUCKET of donuts. He said he was going to get a small basket of donuts while I was in the drink line beside him... and he walks up with an entire bucket of donuts and said he was taking them home to share with this mom and dad. I would have been more appalled if he didn't have such a huge and happy grin on his face! haha. Bottom right: Austin talked me into riding the swings, they never look as high up when standing on the ground but it's tricky because they go way higher up than we assumed. 

Left: Me with the stadium behind me. Top right: mom and dad eating fried mushrooms. Dad was clearly not ready for his picture to be taken hehe. Bottom right: Austin on the top of the ferris wheel 

with the fair in the background. 

The art at the fair is always awesome and is always inspiring. I may 

make my own version of the crab painting in the top right, 

it's perfect for the beach!  

After the fair I went home and took a steamy shower to "boil" away any germs that I may have came into contact with at the fair! However the fair is always a must, besides the art, food, and overpriced rides, the people watching is top notch! I look forward to the fair every year.

Friday Favorites {fail}

So remember my little pact I made with myself about nail polish?

I have already failed my own agreement with myself! haha. I just cant help it because the fall colors are all AMAZING! 

So I first bought Essie Chinchilly. 

It's a calming and soft gray color. Have you noticed gray is everywhere? Apparently gray is the new neutral, and I love it. 

Then OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest. 

It is a perfect fall color. It is iridescent  so when you look at it one way it is a deep purple and then changes color to a maroon color. 

And now I am on the hunt for Essie's Clutch Me If You Can. 

This color is great for Halloween! It's a vampy dark hued red that is almost a black. It reminds me of True Blood and the vampire blood that they show all the time! haha. Like I said, perfect for Halloween! I may have to buy it online, it's hard to find!

All the colors are so gorgeous and all so different... I NEED them. haha. Since I failed at keeping the promise to myself about only buying one fall color, I will vow to not buy any more shades of palest pale pink. .. probably because I have all the ones ever made! 

Chicken Florentine

So I decided to try to make a new recipe that I found on Pinterest, Chicken Florentine. I have never cooked, nor do I think I have actually eaten Chicken Florentine, but the recipe sounded so good.

This is the picture and recipe, courtesy of picky-palate.com

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped white onion
1 clove minced garlic
4 cups baby spinach leaves
2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Cups Philadelphia Cooking Creme
1 pound bowtie pasta or other small noodle
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place oil in Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Stir in spinach leaves, cook, stirring until wilted about 2 minutes. Add chicken, salt, and pepper, and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Add cooking cream, stirring to combine.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and run under cold water to stop cooking. Add pasta to chicken mixture stirring to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish and top with cheese. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until cheese is melted.Makes 8 servings

**After I cooked it I added garlic salt, however next time I will use one container of Original Philadelphia cooking creme and then one container of Savory Garlic flavored Philadelphia Cooking Creme (each container is about one full cup). 

It was a delicious and an easy recipe, I will be making this again for sure. 

Whirl Wind {of good news!}

You will not guess what has happened… go ahead… guess… give up?

Well remember the very first house that we had bid on, the one who eventually “broke up with me” when we lost the bid and I was devastated? AND then I kept wishing that the bid winners financing would fall through… well I am sorry karma (but thank you) because IT DID!!! And the house is OURS!! Out of the approximate number of 33 houses that we have seen, it is still my very favorite.

 So now the other house… welp the paper work has taken what feels like years and they won’t even be finished by December so our contract runs out and we are then able to back out of the contract. So our most hoped for- first house we had ever bid on (that I thought had “broken up” with me) is BACK! Words cannot express our elation, as I’m sure this blog is very scattered in excited thoughts.

The other house was going to have to have a ton of upgrades before we moved in, yet this house needs a fenced in back yard for the dogs and then maybe new carpet upstairs… but other than that it is PERFECT! We are going to paint everything to suit our color palate over time but it is absolutely perfect. The layout is open and it already has hardwood floors downstairs that I have pined (no pun intended…) for.  We close no later than November 15^th and will be in immediately. I am so stinkin’ excited!! This house better not “break up with me” again! Haha.

So now of course I'm taking all of my decorating ideas for the other house and applying them to this one! If I wanted to decorate the house immaculately as it is in my head- with a bottomless bank account of course I will: paint the cabinets in the kitchen, fence in the yard, install new carpet up stairs, add a screened in porch in the back, paint every room, install new counters in the kitchen, install floating shelves in the bathroom, stain the cabinets in all the bathrooms, and finally install built in book cases in the living room. As crazy as it sounds it’s not THAT much to do… you should see the list of stuff I needed to do to the other house! Of course most of the list will be done over several years because let’s face it, nothing is wrong with the kitchen counters (as most of what’s on the list), I just want to be able to choose my own to suit my decorative taste. .. and I’m sure it will all be done in time. However, in the mean time I am just so excited that this house is ours and truly meant for us! Crazy how everything works out and I am simply bursting with excitement of the end results!!